[Extractivism Talks #02] Bringing Structural Analysis Back in a World of Pessimism. Panel 1

[Extractivism Talks #02] Bringing Structural AnalysisBack in a World of Pessimism. A generational conversation on class, state, andglobal development

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Panel 01: Revisiting development: state, class and structure

Hartmut Elsenhans (University of Leipzig)
Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira (Getúlio Vargas Foundation)
Mushtaq Khan (SOAS, University of London)

Moderation: Luíza Cerioli (University of Kassel )

[00:13] Welcome by Hans-Jürgen Burchardt (University of Kassel)
[04:57] Introduction to the panel by Luíza Cerioli (University of Kassel )

[10:20] Talk by Hartmut Elsenhans (University of Leipzig)
[29:10] Talk by Mushtaq Khan (SOAS, University of London)
[48:18] Talk by Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira (Getúlio Vargas Foundation)
[01:08:40] Discussion


The world is in crisis, and recurring events, such as the 2008 global financial crisis up to the current war in Ukraine, reveal that we are experiencing a turning point in history. These crises show that the global system mainly became challenging in economic and political dimensions. The prevailing mainstream doctrines, be Institutionalism, Constructivism, Neoclassic or Neoliberal, have been ill-fated in the Social Sciences, particularly in International Relations, Political Sciences, and Economics, losing much of their explanatory value. In a nutshell, many optimistic predictions concerning growth, development, prosperity, and peace did not materialize. In the face of these crises and humanitarian catastrophes, the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction, a direction characterized by pessimism, isolationism, populism, and, not least, nationalism. After a years-long requiem of the state and debates about its end, the state revitalized quickly – bringing old issues to share the table with new challenges. While, for decades, mainstream politics and conventional wisdom in the West sough for a neoliberal utopia, the complex reality of class struggles, conflict for resources, predatory consumption of nature, and inequalities on a global scale push us to explore, once again, the role of state and class in development trajectories. Thus, the quest for alternative concepts that balance the old and the new, the agency and the structure, begins, opening the discussion to heterodox approaches.

With a focus on the Global South, this Extractivism Talks intends to revisit structuralist arguments in discussing development theory and development policies. Considering we are arguing that there is a discussion returning, we want to explore the utility of the available tools of analysis as well as what is dire needs to be updated and how so. The goal is to promote a discussion of different scholarly generations between the first wave of scholars working on structuralism, class, and development and upcoming scholars that currently build on these works.